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Trash Inc. The Secret Life of Garbage

The business of trash has become a 21st century goldmine. CNBC's Carl Quintanilla goes inside a $52 billion a year industry.

Garbage. It's everywhere — even in the middle of the oceans — and it's pure gold for companies like Waste Management and Republic Services who dominate this $52 billion-a-year industry. From curbside collection by trucks costing $250,000 each, to per-ton tipping fees at landfills, there's money to be made at every point as more than half of the 250 million tons of trash created in the United States each year reaches its final resting place.

At a cost of $1 million per acre to construct, operate and ultimately close in an environmentally feasible method, modern landfills are technological marvels — a far cry from the town dump that still resonates in most people's perceptions. Not only do they make money for their owners, they add millions to the economic wellbeing of the towns that house them. Technologies, such as Landfill Natural Gas and Waste To Energy, are giving garbage a second life, turning trash into power sources and helping to solve mounting problems. It's particularly important in places like Hawaii, where disposal space is an issue, and in China, where land and energy are needed and trash is plentiful.

Americans spend about $11 billion dollars a year on bottled water. But after the water is gone, only a small percentage of these 51 billion empty bottles make their way to a new life. The rest end up in landfills, or worse.

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The latest garbage gauge is pointing to a slow but steady recovery that should see trash volumes turn positive this quarter or next for the first time since 2008. That should propel profits of trash haulers who’ve been able to maintain pricing power through the recession thanks to long-term, customer-specific contracts.

Recycling is now possible across much of the country, but a complex web of rules—along with corporate and local government desires to be seen being as “green” as possible—can make it hard to figure out what’s really happening to all that rescued waste. Some companies, like Starbucks, are working to navigate those rules.

Although most people don’t think about it, the management of solid waste is one of the most critical issues facing municipalities throughout the United States. Challenges arise every day as society tosses out more and more wastes, the number of landfills available for use continues to decline, regulations grow and the cost of providing services increases. Financially and logistically, the management of solid waste is becoming ever more difficult.